Irish hang on in a wild finish

Notre Dame 70, Wisconsin-milwaukee 69

March 21, 2003|By Avani Patel, Tribune staff reporter.

INDIANAPOLIS — For Notre Dame, an up-and-down season almost came to a teeth-gnashing, hair-pulling, gut check of an end Thursday night.

But Notre Dame escaped with a 70-69 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee when Dylan Page's shot with less than two seconds remaining rimmed out, sending the Irish to a second-round Midwest Regional meeting with Illinois Saturday.

Jason Frederick's late three-pointer gave UWM a 69-68 lead, but freshman Torin Francis' put-back basket with 32 seconds left proved to be the winner.

"I never thought we were going to pull away from them, they're such a mature older group," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.

Chris Thomas, who led Notre Dame (23-9) with 27 points, said Torrin Francis "was our anchor inside. If we continue to get that contribution from him, the sky's the limit."

This matchup all looked so easy on paper. On one side, a team with talent and tradition and a treasure trove of big-time victories. On the other, a novice, a team whose tenacity may have been bigger than its talent.

That the Irish survived the Panthers teeth-baring ferocity is not surprising. That, by virtue of their No. 5 seed, was expected.

It was how they survived that was unusual.

Notre Dame, which has averaged better than eight three-pointers per game this season, had only three Thursday night.

Matt Carroll, who has averaged almost 21 points per game this season, and who has scored in double digits in every game, had only two points.

Carroll injured his left foot in the second half, but he stepped back onto the floor just 20 seconds after he had limped off, re-inserting himself into a game that threatened to be his last in an Irish uniform. His status for Saturday is uncertain.

Notre Dame, whose assists-to-turnovers ratio stood at a respectable 1.3 all season, was dismal at hanging on to the ball, giving up 20 turnovers.

That Notre Dame was in the game at all could be credited to the big-time play Thomas, the sophomore point guard and Indianapolis native who put on an offensive spectacle for his hometown folks.

Although Wisconsin-Milwaukee (24-8) shot less than 35 percent from the floor, , the Panthers' biggest stars-- Page, Clay Tucker and Ronnie Jones--blazed the team's path, putting up 15, 18 and 18 points, respectively, halfway through the second half.